Saturday Stuff

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via The Kitchn

Welcome to another Saturday! I hope you're able to enjoy your weekend amongst the company of friends, family and good food. I'll be doing all of those things while also checking out a new to me brunch spot, sipping coffee, and lounging around in my PJ's as much as possible. I can't wait!

If you need to pass some time, here are some nifty things I found while looking around. Enjoy!

This is basically an ice creamy dessert version of this delightful drink. Yes, please!

I'm a big smoothie fan, and this Almond Joy version looks totally bonkers delicious.

I don't care what Wired says, I'm pretty sure everyone is just lying. #teamwhiteandgold

The definitive guide to butter and toast. So there you go.

This kitchen makeover though...

Wanderlust and Lipstick is a great resource, so ladies listen up and read this if you're thinking of heading on the road solo.

And if you need a reminder of some travel essentials, this should keep you covered.

Have a great weekend everybody! Catch you on the flip!

Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili

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It is so cold here. I can feel my patience chipping away every second this deep freeze that Toronto seems to have sunk itself into lasts. It's gotten to the point where my mood instantly plummets in the morning if I check the weather and see that it is yet another extreme cold weather alert, or the windchill is taking the already cold -15 to an absolutely frigid -28. Seriously friends, I can't stand it any more. I need spring. Better yet, let's just rock right through to summer.

I know coming home from China was a choice, and I even know it was the right one, but living with the knowledge that our old city of Shenzhen is sitting around +20 degrees and our old school is on a two week break for Chinese New Year which is usually our best travelling opportunity - well it's really just adding to the crankiness around these parts. Bah humbug, as they say.

So, when I'm cold, and cranky, you can usually find me in one place - on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, eating a big bowl of something warm and comforting. This week it's this Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili that features black beans and a hint of chipotle that really sends it over the edge in terms of yumminess. I made a huge big batch in anticipation of many more chilly nights to come (pun not intended, but kept it because I really appreciate my brain sometimes).

As with most things that come from my kitchen, this is really flexible depending on what you have in your fridge or pantry, and I encourage you to play around to find your own favourite combinations.

How do you cope with constant cold? For real, please tell me, I need some new strategies!

Enjoy and keep reading for the recipe!

Link Love-In: Saturday Stuff

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via DesignSponge

Welcome to the weekend! Whether you're working for the weekend, working on the weekend, or busy transforming yourself into a weekend warrior (whatever that means...) I thought I'd share some light reading with you - because no matter where you are, you deserve to kick back with a good cuppa and peruse the inter-webs for a bit. I hope you enjoy this little bit of distraction/relaxation!

I looooooove kale. The texture, the flavour, the versatility. I'm definitely not a "kale is for salads" only type of person, but I can get into a rut with it at times, which is why articles like this one are so helpful. (via Food 52)

I've already highlighted my love for Jacqulyn's blog, lark & linen, and this brownie cake with salted caramel peanut sauce dessert is only adding to that love. I mean really, you should see this thing. Drool town. (via lark&linen)

Other Half and I happen to have one of the smallest bedrooms in the city. It didn't bother me at first, but lately I'm feeling it. Some of these tips may just be making their way to our bedroom very soon. (via Apartment Therapy)

Having decided to move back to Canada and really give this whole "settling down" thing a try, we've also been throwing around the idea of attempting to buy something of our own. While I don't know if that's going to happen anytime soon or not, it's never too early to dream about what my space might look like and these images from Brittany Ambridge of Domino magazine definitely getting me into my dream state! (via Decor8)

Did you know it's Chinese New Year? Happy year of the Goat! The official New Year's day was on Thursday, but their celebrations actually last for two weeks. If you don't know much about the holiday, this article does a pretty good job. (via History.com)

Having had to skip out on a longer honeymoon last year to allow Other Half to start a new job on time, we're planning for something a little longer this year (though still limited thanks to Canada's criminally low vacation minimums). We're hoping it will involve Europe and The New York Times does a stellar series called 36 Hours and I think this stop in Copenhagen is perfect. Feel free to get lost in the many (many back articles of this series!) (via The New York Times).

Having the opportunity to visit almost all of South East Asia over the last two years was such a gift, but it also made we want to discover and explore my own country a lot too. I know a trip out East is in our near future, and this guide to Halifax is going to come in very handy! (via DesignSponge)

Enjoy your weekend my friends!

Wide Angle: Vol. 17

Pin It Time is one of the most fascinating concepts on the planet. There are moments when it drips by at a pace so slow that if it were a visible construct you wouldn't be able to detect movement with the naked eye. And then there are times when it moves so quickly you can scarcely remember it at all.  The last couple weeks I have experienced both ends of this spectrum and I can't say either is better or worse, it just is.

Work has kept me increasingly busy, which makes the days disintegrate before my eyes. While a bad cold/flu type thing has kept me laid up on the couch for the entire long weekend making it feel never-ending. Time, it seems, is a fickle little beast. All this to say I don't understand how two weeks have gone by without a post, but it has. oops!

Anyway, here I am with a quick little post to take a long overdue wide angle look at the goings on in my life. On, on...

1. This is how I spent my transition to the new year. The colours in this country (Cuba) were so vivid and dreamy.

2. This is what my world looks like now. Frozen and grey. With record breaking cold temperatures in Toronto lately, I would give a lot to be back on the perfectly warm beaches of Cuba... 6 weeks feels so long ago.

3. & 4. If you follow my instagram, this is not the first time you've seen my cat. It won't be the last time either.

5. Starting back in the world of work mid-winter is an interesting and slightly depressing time. Beside the fact that you now need to leave your cozy home at an unseemly hour of the morning, you also happen to feel like the world is always in a dusk/dawn state. On rare occasions you get to see some beautiful pinks and oranges, but mostly you feel like you always live in semi-darkness.

6. Did you hear? I made doughnuts.

7. This is how I spent Friday night and it was amazing. A giant salad and glass of scotch. Perfect.

8. There is a lot of seafood on that two tiered platter. I (and Other Half) ate it all. It was amazing.

Until next time!

Brown Butter Buttermilk Doughnuts

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I mean... doughnuts!

I just don't know any other way to introduce the most exciting of all food groups. In fact, I'm just not even sure what to say about these in general. It's like the nuttiness of the browned butter has taken over my brain and left me with the inability to think anything other than "mmm" and "delicious" and "drool" ... basically I'm having a Homer Simpson moment all over this blog.

I mean... doughnuts!

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I've already started stock piling recipe ideas in my mind to cover each season. I'm already counting down the days until I can make a lemon doughnut with a sweet strawberry glaze, or the inevitable pumpkin spice doughnut with salted caramel drizzle, or winter's ginger and apple spiced doughnut with cinnamon sugar. Seriously. I can't stop.

I mean... doughnuts! Seriously!

I don't think I need to tell you that this is most exciting thing I've made in a long time. Or maybe ever. I was given a doughnut pan for Christmas and it was a supremely exciting moment. Except now I've realized just how accessible I've made doughnuts to my life, and I can already foresee the wardrobe issues I'm going to be having in the near future becauseI already want all of the doughnuts, all of the time.

For this inaugural foray into the ridiculously world of doughnuts I've worked with a recipe from my standby baker extraordinaire, Joy the Baker. There doesn't seem to be much this woman can't do, except maybe eat more doughnuts than me - that has yet to be seen, and her basic brown butter doughnut recipe was a perfect place to start. I altered it only slightly to accommodate my pantry.

I never would have thought that I would consider a doughnut pan a kitchen staple, but there is no way I'm ever turning back now!

I mean... doughnuts!